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funcrunch

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Posts posted by funcrunch

    Canon Thursday Pic 2011: #6

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    <p>Nothing new shot this week, so here's another music photo from last month's Macworld Expo. This band (Jonathan Mann and the Rock Cookie Bottoms - awesome funny songs) was performing in front of huge windows, but I still managed to get some decent shots without using a flash or other lighting.<br>

    <a title="Jonathan Mann at Macworld Expo by funcrunch, on Flickr" href=" Jonathan Mann at Macworld Expo src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5176/5405247587_90b1c7e0f4_z.jpg" alt="Jonathan Mann at Macworld Expo" width="580" height="387" /></a><br>

    Canon 5D Mk II, 85 mm at f/2.8, 1/200, ISO 400.</p>

    Hypothetical question about copyright

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <p>A friend of mine (who also happens to be a client) posted a hypothetical question on Facebook yesterday, and she and I have been going back and forth a bit on the answer. I asked for and received her permission to post the original question here:</p>

    <p>"If I hand my camera to a stranger and ask them to take a picture of me (with someone, in front of a landmark, whatever) who owns the copyright?"</p>

    <p>My answer was that, from my understanding, the photographer would legally own the copyright, even if as a practical matter proof that s/he took the photo would be impossible. My friend and her fiance stated that if they handed the stranger their equipment and had no way to contact them, said photographer appeared to be giving up his right of ownership. So if the photo turned out to be valuable, the camera owner could sell the photo, and the photographer, assuming they somehow found out, would have no recourse.</p>

    <p>I'm interested in others' take on this scenario.</p>

    <p> </p>

    Signing a release?

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <blockquote>

    <p>I've also seen the notices that Marios refers too, especially at ticketed private events where it is a condition of entry (no chance of even opting out in this case).</p>

    </blockquote>

    <p>I've seen these notices too, but I certainly wouldn't expect one at a public library, unless a special event were going on there at the time. That would just be odd.</p>

    Write Contract To Lawfully Not Photograph Gay Weddings

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <blockquote>

    <p>I live in Vermont, and in this progressive state not photographing lesbian and gay couples is a very poor business decision, regardless of your belief system.</p>

    </blockquote>

    <p>I wonder if that's why the OP wants to find some legal way to avoid having same-sex couples ask for and receive her services. If she were in a less progressive state she might not think it would even be a possibility.</p>

    <p>I live in San Francisco myself, but my mother-in-law lives in Vermont and my husband is visiting her this week. I'll make sure to tell him about this thread when he phones tonight, so he can let his family and friends there know who <em>not</em> to call if they are looking for a photographer.</p>

    Starting Off On the Right Foot

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <p>Charging an hourly rate doesn't necessarily mean that she's not billing for or planning to do post-production. I too charge an hourly rate with a two-hour minimum, and I do post-production on all photos whether prints or additional high-res images are ordered or not. I assume that I will spend 1-2 hours in post for each 1 hour of shooting (3 hours in the worst case), and charge accordingly.</p>

    changed my pricing, should I explain why?

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <p>I recently updated my prices and a couple of weeks before the increase I wrote a <a href="http://funcrunchphoto.com/blog/new-rates-20110116">blog entry about it,</a> explaining some of the reasons why. Haven't gotten any feedback thus far. I also sent heads-up notices to a number of customers and potential customers before raising the prices to give them a chance to order before the change. Some took advantage of this, some didn't. *shrug*</p>

    Using Zenfolio as my main website

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <p>1. Both Zenfolio and SmugMug offer packages I believe, but I only have experience with Zenfolio's as SmugMug didn't have that functionality while I was hosting with them. Zenfolio's package and discount options are very flexible and highly customizable.</p>

    <p>2. I have not set up a domain name with either service but I believe both do offer that option.</p>

    <p>3. I left SmugMug for Zenfolio because the former had frequent unplanned downtimes plus a weekly maintenance window that often lasted several hours. They might have improved since then (I started migrating to Zenfolio last spring after over a year on SmugMug) but I am not looking back.</p>

    <p>4. I have been happy with the prints from both services, but the Bay Photo pro lab option SmugMug uses produced particularly beautiful prints for me. The shipping cost for Mpix, the default Zenfolio lab, is somewhat high.</p>

    Do you use an online backup site?

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    <p>Mozy and Carbonite both have unlimited online backup plans for reasonable prices, the latter only from your internal drive, which does limit things. My DSL upload speed is too slow to take advantage of these (we've tried to upgrade but can't get any faster in our area). So I use a Drobo and send an external 2TB drive out-of-state occasionally as extra insurance. Internal 2TB disks are only around $100 now; I recently upgraded two of the 1TB disks in my Drobo with these.</p>

    Canon Thursday Pic 2011: #5

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    <p>No inclement weather here in beautiful San Francisco, but my photo efforts were still indoors, mostly at Macworld Expo. The event was sadly lacking this year unless you're in the market for iPad or iPhone accessories, but I attended all three days of the expo anyway as there were several musical performances I was interested in watching and shooting. This shot is from the Advanced Jazz Band of the Urban School of San Francisco; very talented group of kids.<br>

    <a title="Urban School of San Francisco at Macworld Expo by funcrunch, on Flickr" href=" Urban School of San Francisco at Macworld Expo src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5016/5405854120_cd81a2dcdc_o.jpg" alt="Urban School of San Francisco at Macworld Expo" width="580" height="500" /></a><br>

    Canon 5D Mk II, 85mm f/1.8, 1/125, ISO 1600.</p>

    Should I add weddings to my list of services on business card?

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <p>I don't see a problem with adding it to a list of services you're willing to do, as long as you're upfront and honest when clients ask to see some images of previous weddings you've shot. No one will actually book a photographer for a wedding without asking about prior experience, and if they're still willing to hire you with no previous wedding experience, then great - everyone has to start somewhere!</p>

     

    Canon Thursday Pic 2011: #1

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    <p>On Jan 2 I went on a walking tour of my own San Francisco neighborhood with my husband and a friend (my friend is developing these tours and we were his guinea pigs). We stopped by the Cable Car Museum, which is just a few blocks from my apartment, but I'd never been inside. I was glad to have an image stabilized lens on hand, so I could hold steady for 1/3 second and get a nice motion blur on the spokes.</p>

    <p><a title="Cable Car museum by funcrunch, on Flickr" href=" Cable Car museum src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5204/5318015721_96f79dcc98_z.jpg" alt="Cable Car museum" width="640" height="427" /></a><br>

    Canon 40D, 17-55mm f/2.8 lens at 17mm, 0.3 seconds at f/8, ISO 800.</p>

    Is Flickr worth it?

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <p>When I put pro-quality photos on Flickr I put them up at a relatively small size (72 dpi, 800 pix or less on the longest side) and include a watermark along the bottom. I also include a link to the pro gallery if I have the same photo hosted there.</p>

    offer individual digital file downloads or just CD?

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <p>I've always offered individual digital files for purchase, previously through SmugMug but now through Zenfolio. On Zenfolio if the customer orders several individual images, they are all packaged into a Zip file for easy download. SmugMug didn't have that option at the time I used them (though they may have added it since), which meant a customer had to click to download every single file they purchased.</p>

    <p>Another advantage to selling only the files rather than the CD is you don't have to worry about sales tax, as no physical goods change hands.</p>

    Event photography customer wants copyright.

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <blockquote>

    <p>It doesn’t matter if you are paid by the hour, month or project, when you are selling a service the output of the service belongs to the person or company paying for the service.</p>

    </blockquote>

    <p>The "output of the service" is a <em>license</em> to use the photographs, <em>not</em> the copyright on the images themselves, unless it is explicitly a work for hire situation. </p>

    <blockquote>

    <p>If you have not formally received rights to the photographs from the organization paying for the images, you don’t own the photographs.</p>

    </blockquote>

    <p>The photographer owns the copyright to the images at the moment the image is captured; this is the default case, you are claiming the reverse. Unless the photographer was an employee of the buyer at the time the photos were captured, then the buyer certainly does not automatically "own" the photographs.</p>

     

    Event photography customer wants copyright.

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <blockquote>

    <p> If you have contracted (even verbally) to shoot the photographs and be paid an hourly rate, you are making photographs for hire. When you are “hired” to produce the images, the customer owns the rights to the photographs.</p>

    </blockquote>

    <p>What does charging an hourly rate have to do with whether it is work for hire or not? Many event photographers including myself charge an hourly rate, and I have always retained the copyrights on my work.</p>

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